He grasped them and held them in place. “Don’t think you can distract me into telling you just by touching me.”
“But I could,” I answered, “I promise I could.”
He cleared his throat and lowered his brow to his nose in an extremely teacherish move. “But you won’t or we will run out of time to have some fun today.”
“I know of some fun we could have without leaving the apartment.”
He threw his head back and laughed, grabbed me around the shoulder, and walked me toward the front room. “Sorry, but we’re going to shower and then gooutto have some fun.”
I unlocked the door and gazed up at him. “New plan, we shower together and then we go out and have some fun.”
My brows wagged suggestively and he jumped at me. I was quicker and ran down the stairs squealing, but he was hot on my heels.
I rested my head on his shoulder for a moment to take a break before we started off deeper into the woods. “I can’t believe we’re going to cut down a Christmas tree!”
He kissed my temple, a grin on his face. “It is December eleventh and you don’t have a tree in that apartment of yours. It was the first thing I noticed.” He pulled a two-man saw on a sled with rope at the ready to tie down our treasure.
“Just because you’ve had a tree up for a month doesn’t mean everyone has to,” I said smartly.
He snickered and rolled his eyes. “Darlin’, I’ve had a tree up since May, but I did change all the ornaments from autumn to Christmas a month ago if that’s what you mean.”
I sighed and laughed at the same time. “Fair enough, but I haven’t had time and truth be told, I haven’t cared. I love Christmas, but this year, I wasn’t feeling it.”
A smile tipped his lips as we traipsed up the trail. “I like the past tense use. Are you feeling it now?”
“I’m practically exploding with the Christmas spirit. I want to shout from the top of the Nightingale Diner how much I love you.”
He laughed, the sound echoing around the woods with joy. “The diner? That’s the best place you can think of? Your salon is higher.”
I shoulder bumped him once. “It might be, but if I shout it from the top of the diner everyone will hear me. The diner is where life happens in Bells Pass.”
He made the duck face with his lips and tossed his head back and forth. “Okay, I see your point. I can help you up there if you’d like to do that after we get back to town.”
It was my turn to burst into giggles, the feeling so freeing and encapsulating at the same time. “Well, you did promise me pie after we were done.”
He shook his head. “No, I promised you dinner.”
“Exactly what I said, pie,” I agreed. While he laughed, my eyes took in the woods around me. I pointed off to the left. “Look! That one is perfect!”
“It’s a bit small, don’t you think?” he asked, staring at the barely four-foot-tall tree.
We walked closer and circled it. I stood, hands on hips, and shook my head. “It’s perfectly symmetrical. Like I took my clippers to its branches until it was a perfectly shaped cone. I love this little guy.” I wrapped my arms around the branches carefully. “Please?” I begged, batting my eyelashes at him that I’d done up heavily with mascara before we left.
He laughed and grabbed me from the tree, walking backward until we both fell into the snow, the powder puffing out around our heads as we laughed. We made snow angels and when we sat up there was the perfect imprint of our love. He pulled me up and brushed off my back, taking extra time on my bottom until I had to jump away from him laughing.
“Grab the saw, we’re taking this one home,” I ordered, pointing to the sled.
He jogged to it and lifted it up from under the ropes, carrying it back and handing me one end. “I can only use my right arm, okay? It shouldn’t take much for this little trunk though.”
I cleared the snow away from the bottom of the tree and eyed the trunk. It wasn’t thick and a few strokes with the saw was all it would take. He watched as I prepared to make the first cut and then went hand on hip with his bad arm. “You don’t want this tree as much as you know it will be easy to cut down. I’m capable of cutting down a bigger tree, Addie.”
I laid the saw down on the ground and walked to him, sticking my finger in his chest. “Listen, Ellis. I take care of the people I love. I’m more than strong enough to cut this tree down by myself, tie it to the sled, and carry it up the stairs when we get home, but I never said you weren’t capable. This is the tree I want. My apartment is small, in case you hadn’t noticed, and a big tree isn’t going to fit. Now, would you like to resume our tree cutting or would you like to stand here and argue about who is more capable?”
“Boy, I picked a feisty one, didn’t I?” I lowered my brow and he snickered, holding up his free hand. “Let’s resume our tree cutting.” He winked and I shook my head in exasperation, picking up the saw. Working together we managed to fell the tree in a few short cuts. We each grabbed an end and lowered it to the sled carefully. He tied it down and kissed my lips in satisfaction. “It’s cute, I’ll give you that.”
I held onto his lapels and winked. “You’re cute, too. Not as cute as my little tree, but still cute.”
He lowered one white brow at me and straightened his red stocking cap. “Now, what kind of thing is that to say, Mrs. Claus?”